West Virginia and Regional History Center
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Morgantown, WV 26506-6069
Business Number: 304-293-3536
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URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu
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Preferred Citation
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Maxwell Family Papers, A&M 0311, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Biographical / Historical
Hu Maxwell (September 22, 1860-August 20, 1927), local and state historian and forester, was born in St. George, Virginia, now Tucker County, West Virginia. He was educated at home by his mother, Sarah Bonnifield Maxwell, until he was 15. He later graduated from Weston Academy (1880) and won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, but he did not complete the course.
Maxwell returned to West Virginia, where he taught school and learned the timbering business. He became editor and part owner of the Tucker County Pioneer newspaper and devoted much of the rest of his life to writing and publishing.
His histories include those for the counties of Barbour (1899), Hampshire (1897), Randolph (1898), and Tucker (1884). He contributed two short articles to History of the Mingo Indians (1921). With Richard E. Fast, he wrote The History and Government of West Virginia (1906), and he co-authored the three-volume classic, West Virginia and Its People (1913), with Thomas Condit Miller.
Maxwell combined his knowledge of timbering with his passion for study and traveled throughout the country conducting surveys for the U.S. Forest Service. In addition to government bulletins, he wrote Idyls of the Golden Shore (1889), a collection of poems about California. He also published A Tree History of the United States (1923).
Adapted from the West Virginia Encyclopedia, accessed October 7, 2020.
Scope and Contents
Papers of the Maxwell family, including correspondence, accounts, legal papers, pamphlets, and clippings. Correspondence (1863-1889) is comprised mostly of letters from Hu Maxwell, California, to Mrs. S.J. Maxwell. Subjects include mining, schools, size and social conditions of towns, ranches, weather and crop conditions, geographical oddities, Maxwell's personal living conditions, and his intentions concerning history publications. Other items include account book of Captain James L. White, showing military supplies issued for the Laurel Hill Encampment [Confederate Army], and the names and rank of officers (ca. 1861); guard report for the Laurel Hill Encampment with two lists of supplies issued (1861); a patent for an improved towel rack, issued to Rufus Maxwell (1859); and pamphlets of political speeches and legal documents (ca. 1858-1884).
Related Material
10, 311
Separated Material
Newspapers from 1849-1900 & magazines from 1856-1918 were separated--see control folder for inventory lists.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
- Account books
- California
- Civil War -- Confederate Army
- Laurel Hill.
- Maxwell family
- Maxwell, G. Ralph.
- Maxwell, H.
- Maxwell, Mrs. S.J.
- Maxwell, Rufus.
- Politics and government.
- Tucker County (W. Va.)
- White, Capt. James L.
Significant Places Associated With the Collection
- California
- Laurel Hill.
- Tucker County (W. Va.)
Container List
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
Stephen Dumire, Esq.October 13, 1864
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
Franklin MaxwellOctober 5, 1863
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
To Mikiundated
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
ItemJanuary 26, 1880
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
BeadsteadJuly 29, 1863
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
MiscellaneousDecember 2, 1883
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
To Mrs. S. J. MaxwellJanuary 16, 1884
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
To Mrs. S. J. MaxwellAugust 14, 1881
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
To Mrs. S. J. MaxwellOctober 2, 1887
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
To Mrs. S. J. MaxwellOctober 23, 1887
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
To Mrs. S. J. MaxwellSeptember 26, 1887
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
To Mrs. S. J. MaxwellSeptember 4, 1887
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
To Mrs. S. J. MaxwellSeptember 30, 1887
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
To Mrs. S. J. MaxwellNovember 13, 1887
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
To Mrs. S. J. MaxwellDecember 18, 1887
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
To Mrs. S. J. MaxwellNovember 20, 1887
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
To Mrs. S. J. MaxwellDecember 18, 1887
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
ItemNovember 1889
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
Clock, Dareas A. (Maxwell) LowtherJune 18, 1929
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 2
Captain White Account Bookundated
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 2
Improved Bedstead Designundated
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 2
Summons (Tucker County)1864
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 2
Guard Report, Laurel Hill1861
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 2
Preston County Coal Mining Institute "Official" Ribbonundated
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 3
Address of Honorable John C. Breckinridge1859
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 3
Speech of Honorable Albert G. JenkinsJanuary 12, 1859
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 3
Address by Honorable Thomas H. DudleyOctober 23, 1884
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 3
Newspaper Clipping--Trusts & Monopoliesundated
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 3
Report of Honorable C.J. Faulkner of Virginia1858
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 3
Governor's Message and Annual Report1851
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 3
Frank Pierce and his Abolition Alliesundated
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 3
The Contrast (Whig and Democratic Platforms)undated
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 3
General Election LawMarch 30, 1858
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 3
Militia LawMarch 2, 1858
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 4
Ex. Doc. No. 54 (Patent Law)undated
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 4
Rules and Directions for Proceedings in Patent OfficeDecember 1, 1855
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 4
The American Law Review1886
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 4
56th Annual Meeting of the Medical Society of PennsylvaniaSeptember 12, 1906
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 4
AccountsMay 1861
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 4
Paper from Jayne's Medical Almanacundated
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 4
Statement by C.H. Maxwell, M.D.undated
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 4
Newspaper Clipping Poem "To Hu Maxwell"undated
- Mixed Materials Box: Oversize Folder: 1
Patent (Improved Towel Rack)1859